Shoppers 'hack' the popular store with creative results.

Jan. 31, 2013
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Cheese grater lamp. / Courtesy: ikeahackers.net

Written by

Joanna Hlavacek

A bookcase is turned into a drink bar. A shelving unit is converted into comfy seating. And, with the help of a glue gun, some ribbons and a basket, a paper lantern is reborn as a whimsical children’s light fixture resembling a hot-air balloon.

These are IKEA hacks, a trend that repurposes and customizes the simple, clean lines of IKEA products. It’s about creativity and personalization, says Mei Mei Yap, the Malaysian blogger behind ikeahackers.net.

“Customizing is inherent in the IKEA system — you mix and match. Hacking is just taking it a little further or way out there,” Yap (known to her readers as Jules) says by e-mail.

While IKEA encourages customers to personalize products, spokeswoman Janice Simonsen cautions it is probably not the safest idea to turn your IKEA desk into a loft bed.